RxMuscle Shut Out of the Olympia…Again!!

In an ironic twist of fate, RxMuscle.com, the company that has become notorious for banning its forum members for no apparent reason, has itself been banned from the Mr. Olympia contest for a second straight year. My sources deep inside the IFBB have informed me that press passes and all contest coverage (including Bodybuilding.com Livestream play-by-play) have been eliminated for the 2014 Mr. Olympia. This ruling also includes the ability of any RxMuscle.com staff to purchase tickets as a spectator.

If everyone remembers last year’s banning, it ended up being a traveling circus (literally) that included the flying out of a dozen RxMuscle staffers to cover the event LIVE from their hotel room. The 2013 banning was further twisted by allowing strongman coverage on the site. That will not be permitted this year as all staffers and all events will be off limits with the small exception that Dave Palumbo and his Species Nutrition booth will be allowed to be in attendance at the Expo, however, no video coverage or interviewing will be permitted.

My sources have also confirmed that Chris Aceto will not be allowed to converse with his athletes in person at the Orleans Arena prior to the prejudging or finals events. All last minute coaching will have to be done through phone, text message, or email. Aceto is allowed to drop Cedric McMillan off at the Orleans Hotel, but it must be done from across the street.

What might be the most intriguing part of this story is the reason for the banning. Last year it was due to Dave Palumbo saying some ill-advised words targeted at the judging panel at the PBW Tampa Pro. Palumbo was coaching Juan Morel and Aceto was coaching Evan Centopani. After Dave thought his boy got a raw deal he took his words to the internet via his website and Twitter and the rest is history. This year’s reasoning is a bit more straight to the point. As it was briefed to me, the IFBB is simply tired of RxMuscle.com and how they conduct themselves personally and professionally.

Projectbodybuilding.com reported earlier this season that RxMuscle.com would no longer be covering smaller NPC contests for financial reasons, marking this the latest setback in RxMuscle’s proud claim as the leader in bodybuilding contest coverage.

Matt has been a fixture in bodybuilding since 2012 where he began as a columnist for RxMuscle.com. He quickly became promoted and was named lead writer for Muscle in the Morning. In June 2013, Matt and RxMuscle.com found themselves in creative differences and he would leave the company. Days later Matt was introduced as Creative Director at Blackstone Labs where his duties included writing feature columns, co-hosting original podcasts, graphic design, and new product creative writing. Along with his duties at Blackstone Labs, Matt was a contracted writer at IronMagazine where he was responsible for writing 12 articles per month.
Looking to expand his reach, Matt started projectbodybuilding.com in March 2014 leaving behind his other industry ventures. Today, Matt is the co-host of bodybuilding’s #1 podcast, The First Callout, Editor in Chief of projectbodybuilding.com, and he continues to write one of the most widely read columns in all of bodybuilding.
You can contact Matt Meinrod at Matt@Projectbodybuilding.com